Hey everyone,
I PROMISE! From this point on, I am going to give a positive twist to what it means to be a Vampire. I am going to give Merlock a nice amount of chances to prove that his heritage is a good thing and give him chances to really awe and amaze his friends with his skills. He has proven himself on an emotional level, now I'm going to give him a chance to prove himself when it comes to skill, gifts and talents.
Let's go,

Venquine1990

Chapter 07
The End Of The Picnic

3rd of May 2418
The Clearing, Tama City
Merlock's POV

"It's Adam! He's back! Oh thank heavens, I was getting worried. What could have taken him so long?" Petra is the first to react and indeed Unita-Master flies through the portal, with Adam and Wing on his back. I can't see either Bubblegum or Mosbee and deduce that they are probably hiding in his cloak again. Yet he also seems to hold something against his body with one of his arms. Adam seems to have heard Petra as he lovingly smiles at her as Unita lands.
Yet he descends from the mighty unicorn on the other side and heads for us. He crouches down and I spot that the item in his arm is Pterry. The red and white metal bird has his wings folded against his body and his eyes are closed. "Apologies, Dr. Goodman. It would appear that I used your invention a bit too extensively. He shut down as we were returning from the 17th century. Bubblegum and Wing only just managed to save him."

Sarah gasps at this, yet Uncle Bernie just smiles calmly and replies: "It's quite alright, Lord Adam. As you said, the witch had to be a complete amnesiac. In all the time that we've been collecting the Time Shifters, Pterry only needed to use his Memory Erase Mode to erase a few days of time. This must have been much, much more. But don't worry. I always carry a remote charger with me. He'll be back online within the hour." And he pulls out said device.
Adam nods at the man in relief and then he turns to Petra. He heads over to her and instantly the same emotions I saw in him when he first came here return to his face and eyes. As he stands in front of the woman, he lays his hand in her neck and lovingly presses his lips to her forehead. "My precious kitten. We have only just met and already I am encased enough in your heart for you to care and worry for me. I am truly honored.
As for what kept me, my kitten, unfortunately it took a while to convince the witch to even go with us. I also had to make absolutely sure that she would fall from the right tree and that everything would happen as I remembered. The last thing I wanted was to mess with the tapestry of history." Petra gently tells him that she understands and the two share a loving kiss. Then Adam turns to me and instantly his eyes widen in concern.

"Little one, what's wrong? What happened?" He asks me in concern and I sigh before Sandy explains everything as she says: "He relived his past in order to grow a stronger bond with his One, Adam. Both the good and the bad were brought to light. From the flames to a mission he unfortunately failed. Even the positive and negative traits of our kind and how they affected the bond that has formed with his friends this past year was covered."
Adam nods and gently requests her to tell him more later. I sigh in relief as I have absolutely no desire to relive the events another time over. Adam notices this and a gentle smile adorns his face as he says: "I believe it's best if we specifically focus our attention on the positive traits of our kind. Such as our unique skills and our specialties." Everyone nods in excitement and Sarah happily whispers to me that she would love to learn about my special skills.

I grin at her and want to jokingly remind her that she has seen my skill in action many times when suddenly a sound rings through the clearing. And because it startles me so, it takes me a minute to realize that it's the song You're Welcome. Tony turns red and pulls his phone from his pocket. He picks up the call and greets the person on the other side of the call, who is apparently named Jake. He asks what's up and listens for a minute.
"Sorry dude, I can't. I'm out on a picnic with my friends – and Sarah's new boyfriend." Tony grins at my love and me as he ends his sentence and I grin back alongside my sweet Sarah. But then Tony winces and his face turns sour as he listens to something that Jake tells him. "Ugh Jake, enough already. I'll see you in school on Monday alright. Later dude." Tony hangs up the phone and I notice Sarah shaking her head.

My precious sarcastically asks if this Jake person is a happy camper or not and Tony rolls his eyes. He lies himself back on the blanket with his hands behind his head as he says: "You know what he's like, sis. I've been talking in on him for months, you know that." A sense of concern and annoyance blooms in my heart, yet I try to keep my tone calm as I ask: "Do I have competition for your heart or something, my Sarah?"
My beloved lets out a single laugh and snorts: "As if. Jake just doesn't know how to take no for an answer. He keeps insisting that, because I am the first girl he ever liked, I should return his feelings. And that because he and Tony grew up together, we could make the whole family very happy if we got together. The fact that he is absolutely not my type and that I don't even care for him as a brother means nothing to him.
If anything, he constantly says that because I don't love him as family, that means he has my heart. He asks me that almost every time we talk – which I try to avoid whenever possible – and even if I were to shout the word no in his ear with a megaphone, he'd still ignore it. To be honest, the only reason he's been avoiding upsetting me this last year is because Flint scares him." Flint tilts his head confused at this and Rocky explains that Sarah means his incredible strength.

PS. Sorry, I'm going to insert a bit of my own personal opinion into the story here.

Henrietta turns to Tony and asks: "So, you're a fan of old Disney songs?" Tony's face heats up a bit again and yet Sarah leans her form peacefully against my own and says: "We all do. To be honest, we all think that most modern day music is just awful. All that loud booming and those songs made out of technological means instead of actual instruments." She shakes her head and mutters her relief over the fact that at least Disney is still making acceptable music.
Henrietta has a huge grin on her face and I grin at her as she says: "You kids are the youth of my heart. Personally I've always believed that the music genre of art took a dive into the Grand Canyon or something after the invention of disco – and that it crash landed with the invention of techno music. I mean, sure some songs are alright. But to me, an actual song has become almost like an endangered specie or something."

And to the amusement of my brethren, the twins chorus I know, right? Then Henrietta pulls out her own phone and asks: "Want to compare song lists?" Tony happily nods and the two of them both unlock their respective phones before handing the devices to each other. For a few minutes we all just silently watch them. Tony has a look of confusion and intrigue on his face from time to time and tilts his head to the side a few times.
Then the two switch back and Henrietta says: "I got to say, I'm impressed, kiddo. I mean, I'd make an excel document out of your boyband songs or something as I'm pretty sure you have a few songs a good five times over. But your Disney song collection is very, very impressive. I even found a few songs I didn't think to add to my own list. I forgot about them." Tony smiles and replies that she has a few songs he didn't even know about.
He turns to Sarah and says: "I mean, Sarah and I both love Frozen, but we had no idea that Disney made a sequel." At this Henrietta groans, which makes David and me laugh and she makes an exclamation of how it's just a crime that the popularity of the first movie killed any chance of the sequel to flourish and compete. And like Tony, she flops down and huffs how Into the Unknown beats Let it Go out of the park any old day.

That last bit is my opinion and I'm sticking to it. If you disagree, fine, but I ask you not to try and convince me. I won't convince you, you won't convince me. Deal? Good.

Tony lets out an intrigued sound and says that he'll be checking it out. Henrietta encourages him to do so and then says: "Right, back on topic. Every Vampire has control over one kind of flora as well as one special gift that is theirs and theirs alone. As we already told you, I can grow weeds and Sandy can control vines and loose hanging branches." Then she giggles and guesses that I probably used my ability to summon flowers whenever possible.
The others also laugh and I happily summon another rose right in front of Sarah's face. This startles her and I lovingly tuck it between a few of the strands that are tied back into her braid. Then suddenly a vision of beauty erupts in my mind and I try not to let my grin grow larger than it already is as I turn to Uncle Bernie. I ask the man if it's alright if I spend the night with him and the family and instantly all three men in the family accept.
I thank them with a grin and close my eyes, just so I can't send a calculative look Sarah's way as I think: "And when you wake up tomorrow morning, a very pleasant surprise will be waiting for you, my princess." Then Flint asks David what he controls and the slightly older Vampire answers how he can summon leafs with healing properties, how Adam can grow vegetables and how George can summon plants that can be weaved into cloths.

The others all look really amazed and impressed and Adam smiles as he says: "It used to be that we had whole groups of vampires who could do this. Heeeh, I remember this one little clan of our kind. They lived in the Indian Rainforest and grew all of their own crops. Some were even able to grow these rare fruits that tasted just like blood. But then, one day, they just – disappeared. We never found out what happened, no one did."
At this Flint turns to Unita and asks him if he knows. But while Adam looks startled, the steed shakes his head and says that it happened during a time where the tapestry and the Old Timer were focused elsewhere, that it happened around the end of the American Revolution. Tony winces and mutters that that would do it before Flint shrugs and says: "Oh well, maybe I can get Miss Grey to give me a Time Card and find out."
Instantly my eyes widen and I think: "Why didn't I ever think of that? Use – use the Time Police to go back to – to that fateful day. Why didn't I ever realize that I could use their help to put the past behind me?" I look down at where Sarah is still tucked underneath my arm and wonder silently if I would want her by my side for this or if I'd rather spare her the horrors of the sight. I feel as if the area around us is heating up and realize what's happening.

Forcefully I push back the memories and the pain and just focus on the situation around me. "Anyway, while it is true that multiple vampires can have the same floral gift, each vampire also has their own unique gift, their specialty. Mine is my intelligence. I can teach anyone anything and adapt my teaching style to their preferred method. George's specialty, on the other hand, is his fangs. Instead of poison, he injects a healing serum in those he bites."
Sandy tells everyone and Sarah exclaims her amazement as she asks why Henrietta isn't teaching at their school and if George is a specialized doctor or something. Sandy sighs and says: "It all has to do with our eternal lives and youth, Sarah. We can only convince mortals of our fake ages for so long, even with modern conveniences such as plastic surgery. Therefore, I often apply as a private tutor, that usually only lasts so long, but never too long."

Sarah nods understandingly and I feel my heart burst at how beautiful she looks as her caring nature almost radiates off of her like an aura. George also admits that he often applies with the companies that make certain kinds of fluid medicine and that, before now, the Council would always help him in his efforts as he would inject some of his venom into the medicine. "I can't do it with cures for things like cancer, no matter how much I want to.
If I do, everyone and their mother will want for my poison and it will take them only a decade or two to realize who I am. And with our numbers being as low as they are and Sandy being dependent on me, I can't risk either of our safety like that. Besides, I've seen enough animals with special gifts and powers either disappear somewhere into a laboratory or get killed. Mortals might not be genetically evil, but they sure are greedy."

My friends look pained and troubled and George sighs as he spots this. "Please, try to understand. This is a decision that I had to make several centuries ago. Cancer really became a known problem around the same time as the World Wars and whatnot. The world was just not safe. And even if today there are pharmacies that would be willing to work with me on my terms, their rivals might not. And the black market also still exists.
I don't like it, don't ever think that I do. If I could, I would travel to each and every hospital in the world, inject my cure into their bodies and heal them of their every illness before I would move onto the next. But it's not just the fact that there are too many mortals who would want to take advantage of me. There are also too many ill people all at the same time around the world. Sooner or later, I would hate myself for saving this one person, when I should have saved another.
So I took the option that works best for me, that gives me a chance to – if nothing else – at least do some good for the mortals that deserve it. It might be the minimalistic approach, but –." Yet here Tony lies a hand on his shoulder and says that George can stop explaining, that they understand. The others nod and George sighs in relief. He pats Tony's hand gratefully and Tony returns back to his blanket with Flint, Rocky and Uncle Bernie.

"So what about the rest of you? What are your specialties?" Rocky asks the rest of my brethren and Henrietta giggles before she answers how her specialty is her singing voice, unlike me. I mock-glare at her, while I try to suppress my own mortification as I remember attempting to sing an opera tune for Sarah when I saved her from Musey-Con. Then suddenly I notice a nostalgic look on Sarah's face as well as a wistful smile.
"What's on your mind, my sweet?" I lovingly ask her and the girl sighs as she murmurs how she actually hasn't sung a single song since her parents died. My eyes widen and Tony speaks up and says: "That's right, you and mum always used to sing me to sleep if I woke up from a nightmare. But then mum died and you just stopped." My beloved nods and whimpers how it just didn't feel right without her mother there to guide her.
Her brother nods in understanding and I comfortingly pull my sweet love closer against my form to soothe her. Sarah smiles at me and then Henrietta asks her whether or not my love would ever want to sing with her. Sarah looks up startled, but then she smiles and mutters how she'd rather not, at least not right now. Naturally my pseudo mother gives my sweet, sweet One a nod full of understanding and empathy.

Then George turns to me and asks: "So tell me, little one. In all the times that you've traveled through time and space to hunt down those little Time-Buggers, have you ever had to use your specialty?" And just like with Henrietta's reminder, I feel my blue-skinned cheeks turn a darker shade of blue. George notices the hue and tilts his head as I rub the back of mine and mutter: "I did, once. Though the results were definitely not what I expected or intended."
My brethren blink as they look at me and I let out a bit of a nervous laugh before I regain myself. I look back at Sarah and just start to talk. "I know you felt extremely embarrassed that one time I used my special skill, my precious little star. But I still think your outfit was magnificent and that you looked delightfully charming." Her eyes widen and Tony asks if I mean that time that Muscles made her grow to epic proportions.
I nod at him and explain: "I really don't know how that outfit came to exist in the first place. I saw that Sarah was starting to grow and that it was tearing at her cloths. All I wanted to do was preserve her innocence. I wasn't even thinking of any potential outfit, look or anything. I do think that my magic merged with the power of the Shifter as that would explain Sarah's size at the time. But otherwise I really have no explanation for the rest."

George snickers and says: "Well, I might have one. I mean, I've heard you call the little beauty many a thing, but if you had to compare her to – no offense – an animal, what would it be?" And suddenly it hits me. I grin again and explain how, when I first saw Sarah in her cute white training outfit, I did indeed compare her to a cute white little bunny rabbit. Yet I quickly add how this was at least half an hour before it all happened.
George annoys me for the third time today as he laughs and says how it stays a fact. Sarah sighs and to my delight, she cuddles her head as she says: "Well, no matter. I'd rather never dress like that again, but at least the whole thing did have some advantages. Muscle's power made me strong enough to fight him off and the outfit made sure I stayed decent. That's all that matters in the end." I grin at her and silently remember my plan.

Then Sandy stands up and sighs as she says: "This was incredibly fun and I am very happy that I got to meet all of you. But George and I live out of town and it's at least a few hours of flying in our bat forms to get home, so we'll be going now." Flint's face falls at hearing this and Sandy cheers him up by gently running a hand through his hair. Yet before she can turn to the others to greet them goodbye, Adam stands up and says:
"We've been apart for far too long. It took three great potential hazards to all our health to bring us all back together in what I can only assume was the first time in a few centuries. Even if we live towns or cities apart, we are the last of our kind. I say we meet once a month and reunite like we did today. All in favor?" My brethren and the Goodmans nod in happy agreement to this and Flint nods his own little head in rapid and excited speed, at which Adam laughs.

Then he turns to the Time-Shifters and calls on Wing. The rocket-shaped little bird-like being nods and flies over to Petra. He flies behind her and actually shoots a couple of wing darts onto her back. Petra lets out a shocked exclamation as the wings grow to full form, but then Adam reaches out his hand to her and asks: "Would you care for a romantic flight across the forest, my kitten?" Petra's eyes shine with love and a huge grin grows on her face.
She takes his hand and Adam gives us all one last nod goodbye before the two of them take off. Then Unita turns to the little Time Shifter and tells him how it's time that they head home too, that the Old Timer is waiting on them. He turns his head to Flint and his telepathic voice turns a lot more tender as he tells the young prehistoric boy that Flint only needs to say the word and that he'll happily bring the Time-Shifters over for a visit.
"Yeah, we miss you, Flint." Wing adds to this and Flint happily pulls the little green guy in for a warm hug as he replies in agreement and asks if the Shifters are happy in the Land of Time. Wing nods in confirmation and Flint brings an extreme feeling of pride to my heart as he says: "Then that's all that matters. If you're happy, I'm happy." Wing nods and then flies off to land on Unita's back. Yet then suddenly I notice Bindi.

The little Shifter turned to stare at me after Flint's statement and a hesitant, thoughtful look is in her eyes. For a few minutes we stare at each other and it seems as if Bindi was either analyzing me or using my person to come to some kind of decision. Her hesitation disappears and gets replaced with a look of peaceful acceptance. This looks helps me to realize what it was that was going through my friend's mind as she was staring at me.
I feel my heart getting weighed down with pain, but then I realize something else. Bindi nods at me, though she's probably nodding more to herself and I blink back a tear as I nod back at her. The sweet, pink little thing sends me one last loving smile and then she quickly flies after Unita. She reaches him just in time and grabs onto his rear flank just as Unita flies through another Time Portal. A single tear runs down my face as the portal disappears.
The others all stare and blink with gaping mouths as Flint and Tony call the little Shifter's name. Yet I turn to Flint, who turns back to me with a confused look on his face. I grin at him and whisper It's like you said. Flint blinks a few times, but then he smiles and nods at me. Sarah clings to me and asks me if I'm sure. I nod at her and say: "Bindi stayed with me all this time, because I lived alone. It's just like with the count, remember?"

I look up into the sky, through the canopy of the trees surrounding our clearing and say: "She's back where she belongs. And just like the other Shifters, she knows that she can come visit me whenever she wants. And don't forget, she managed to get me back to my own place from the Third century when she turned into her Master form. Like Unita, she has the ability to travel through time and space, so she won't need him to come see me if she wants to."
The team nods and then we all share warm hugs with my brethren. Then suddenly I realize that, after Adam and Petra left, Mite and Dino left as well. Flint puts his hands behind his head and says: "Wow, that has got to be their most silent retreat ever." The others nods and after Henrietta gives Sarah one last hug and whispers how happy she is that my Sarah and I found each other, we all leave. Flint looks awed as my brethren change into bats.
I smile as vampire wings have a sheen of sparkles on their wings that shine in the same color as their eyes in the sunlight. Sarah gasps as, upon my brethren flying up and above the foliage of the trees, the slowly setting sun makes their wings shine beautifully. A feeling of envy shortly overtakes me at the sight, but then I remember my earlier realization as well as how it felt to remember the last time I changed into that form.

Then the Goodmans and I pass through the curtain and head back the way we came. At the stream we do the same as before. Flint takes Tony and Uncle Bernie on his shoulders with Tony holding Rocky. Sarah heads over to me and suddenly an impulsive sense of amusement overcomes me. I grin at my beloved and pick her up in such a way I get to hold her bridal style. Sarah turns red as she realizes what I'm doing and I whisper in her hair:
"One day, my love. One day." I dare a quick glance in her beautiful blues and my heart feels like it got hit with a ray of sunshine as there is a dreamy look of excitement shining beautifully in the orbs I love above all else. I wonder if, perhaps, my beloved might be envisioning herself in a wedding dress right now. The thought alone makes my slowly beating heart now beat with the speed of a cheetah and yet again, as I jump, I feel like I'm soaring.

On the other side of the stream I want to let Sarah down again, but the beautiful maiden keeps her arms around my neck and whispers in my ear how she doesn't want me to let go just yet. The warmth that I feel from her form close to mine now also feels like it comes from deep within me as I feel as if her love for me warms me from within. And so I happily lift my beautiful Sarah back up in my arms and follow after Flint and the others.
"I know you're going to stay the night, but I was wondering if you could do something for me, Merlock." Sarah whispers as we reach the forest edge. I lovingly send her a warm smile and remind her how much I love helping my beautiful One. The girl giggles and her voice sounds like sweet little hummingbirds chirping in the early morning sun. Yet just when we pass through the edge and Sarah wants to make her request, a voice shouts: "WHAT THE HELL!"

Eh, who is that?
The next "adversary" for Sarah and Merlock to face on their road to being together forever. And with adversary, I really just mean annoyance. This guy is basically going to be like Gilderoy Lockhart, Zacharias Smith, Cormac McLaggen. Well, you get the picture, though I don't really plan to keep him in the story for very long. Also I am probably going to postpone what happened at the council meeting for the time being.
Sorry, not sorry,

Venquine1990